WFDF receives overwhelming number of bids for the 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate

08 October 2016

Will be forced to restrict registrations and team sizes despite 50% increase in expected capacity

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) announces that it had received requests for bids to send teams to the 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate (WCBU) from an unprecedented and unexpected number of countries. After working with the local event organizers, the event capacity was able to be increased to 120 teams, but WFDF will still have to restrict registrations and team sizes for the event because of absolute capacity constraints. The WCBU will be held on the beaches of Royan, France, over the week of 18-24 June 2017.

Following the last WCBU event in 2015 in Dubai – which hosted 65 National teams from 20 nations, the 2017 event was expected to see interest from 75-80 teams and 1,200 athletes. “We received bids from almost 200 teams from 47 different member national associations during the Expression of Interest period. No one anticipated that level of demand and, after consultation with the TOC and WFDF’s independent event management and consultant BULA, regrettably only 120 teams will be offered bids to participate in Royan next summer,” said WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch.

The Tournament Organising Committee (TOC) representing the French Flying Disc Federation (FFDF) is made up of 12 senior staff members, each bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the team in their respective areas of expertise. They have spent the last two weeks looking at all possible ways to meet the new demands with specific attention on the venue, transport, accommodations, security, first aid, communications, and tourism. Working within the constraints of the facilities available both at the venue and within the small seaside town, and keeping within the limitations imposed by local and regional authorities, the TOC was able to increase their hosting ability quite substantially but nowhere near enough to meet the full demand. Event Director Amandine Constant stated “The FFDF initially bid to host the event with services offered for around 1,200 athletes. We worked very hard in a short time to increase our capacity by 50%, and we look forward to hosting the event with the same level of professionalism, quality, and security as was promised during our bid phase, without compromise.”

The decision to limit bids for team registrations has meant that there are 33 national associations who have been affected and have some teams not able to attend. “The TOC looked at many ways to increase capacity and include more teams and players within the constraints mentioned” stated Patrick van der Valk, BULA President. “In the end it was simply not possible. We fell victim to our own success. I truly feel horrible for all the players and teams affected. This is the first time we faced this situation and hopefully it will be the last time. WFDF will look at the possibility to split out the masters’ divisions for future Beach Ultimate events, opening up the ability for maximum participation across all divisions.”

Essential to keeping within the event participant restrictions imposed by the local authorities, all teams will be capped at a maximum of 16 people (15 players and 1 non-playing team member). This team size cap, which was endorsed by the WFDF Athletes Commission and the WFDF Beach Ultimate Committee, has allowed us to ensure all countries had the opportunity to register a team for WCBU 2017.

We understand that there have been some questions about the delayed communication regarding team bids and team size restrictions, but we trust that all interested parties will understand that TOC, WFDF, and BULA acted immediately upon receiving the late surge of expressions of interest coming in just before the deadline. It has taken some time to work with the TOC to investigate all possible avenues to enable more teams and players to participate.

For all teams and athletes, the official channel for all communication should be through their National Association Beach Ultimate Representative. All official bids have now been confirmed and team fee invoices sent.

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The venue for the premier club championships event for Ultimate was moved indoors for semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday because of thunderstorms and tornado warnings. The quadrennial championship, last held in Lecco, Italy in 2014, welcomed 2,971 athletes on 128 teams from 36 countries to Ohio for eight days of competition. More than 100 games from WUCC are archived and available for viewing on WFDF’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

The action in this 50th anniversary year of the founding of the sport now moves to Canada. The WFDF 2018 World Masters Ultimate Club Championships (WMUCC) are being held 29 July - 4 August 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ( http://wmucc2018.com ). WFDF’s world championship event season will be capped off with the WFDF 2018 World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC), being held 18 - 25 August 2018 in Waterloo, Canada ( http://www.wjuc2018.com ).

Six teams have moved onto the finals of the WFDF 2018 World Ultimate Championships after a dramatic semifinals day that saw the tournament move to an indoor location after outdoor play was suspended due to inclement weather. After flash flood, thunderstorm, and tornado warnings were issued in southwest Ohio on Friday, the semifinals and finals of the WFDF 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships were moved to Wall2Wall Soccer complex in mason, OH, USA.

In the Men’s division, Australia’s Colony upset the USA’s Doublewide to advance to the finals, where they will face the tournament’s top seed, the USA’s Revolver, who remain undefeated and are the defending WUCC champions from 2014 in Lecco, Italy. Revolver won their semifinal game against Canada’s GOAT.

In the Women’s division, Colombia’s Revolution put together an impressive performance, including an end zone layout that made the Sports Center’s Top 10 plays of the day, to defeat USA’s Brute Squad. The USA’s Riot, the defending WUCC champions, bested the USA’s Molly Brown to proceed to the finals.

In the Mixed division, it will be an all-American derby after USA’s Slow White defeated USA’s Wild Card to advance to the finals against the USA’s BFG. BFG defeated USA’s AMP to earn their spot in the finals.

On Saturday, the finals can be viewed online on the Olympic Channel, Ultiworld and WFDF’s YouTube. The Men’s finals, featuring Revolver and Colony will be featured at 8:30am, followed by Riot vs. Revolution playing the Women’s championship at 2:30pm, and the Mixed division’s Slow White vs. BFG at 4:30pm, all times EDT.

Games will be played to 15 points with a cap at 100 minutes. Medal ceremonies will immediately follow each division’s finals. Today three division finals cap off the eight day championship that brought together 3,000 athletes on 128 teams from 36 countries.

Following flash flood, thunderstorm and tornado warnings in southwest Ohio, the semifinals and finals of the WFDF 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships were moved to an indoor facility.

The six semifinals in the Men’s, Women’s and Mixed divisions will be played on Friday, July 20 at the Wall 2 Wall Soccer complex. These games will be a continuation of earlier competition that was postponed for weather and lightning delays at the Lebanon Sports Complex. Games are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

The competition intensified at the WFDF 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships on Thursday with the arrival of the quarterfinals round.

In the Men’s division, Australia’s Colony stunned the USA’s Ring of Fire in a game that went to double game point. Colony and Canada’s GOAT will face off against the USA’s Doublewide and Revolver in the semifinals on Friday.

In the Mixed division, four American club teams will battle it out on Friday. Two Boston teams, Wild Card and Slow White, will face each other in one semifinal, while BFG will take on AMP in the other.

In the Women’s division, Colombia’s Revolution will join three American club teams – Brute Squad, Riot and Molly Brown – in the semifinals on Friday, and try to ensure that it is not an all-American final. All four won handily in the quarterfinals. Both women’s semifinals will be livestreamed on WFDF’s YouTube and Facebook channels on Friday.

Unfortunately, after a week of hot, steamy weather devoid of precipitation, the forecast for the next two days is not promising, as a large front is coming through the region with consistent torrential thundershowers forecast. It is highly likely that games may be rescheduled on an ad hoc basis due to the lightning protocol. Please visit www.wucc2018.comfor updates.

The fifth day of competition at the WFDF 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships was full of dramatic finishes and startling upsets. On Wednesday, 12 games were decided by a single point.

In the Women’s division, the rounds of elimination games began ahead of quarterfinals starting on Thursday. Colombia’s Revolution, HUCK from Japan, and 6ixers from Canada will do their best on Thursday to knock one of the five American teams off en route to the semifinals round.

In the Men’s division, the round of eight promises exciting action on Thursday as the three undefeated American teams look to assert their dominance. In the Mixed division, two rounds of knockout games whittled the 32 remaining teams down to a final eight.

Games to watch on Thursday include the Mixed matchup between undefeated sides Hässliche Erdferke from Germany and American powerhouse AMP and the rematch of the tournament’s opening showcase game between the Netherlands’ GRUT and Boston Wild Card in the Mixed division.

The close of Day 4 on the WFDF 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships on Tuesday marked the halfway point of the tournament, which concludes with the championship games in the men’s, women’s, and mixed divisions on Saturday in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Women’s and Men’s divisions are onto the crossovers stage, providing a bye round for the higher-ranked teams and another chance to change tournament fortunes for those lower down in the next round. In the Men’s division, only four teams remain undefeated — Revolver, Doublewide, Ring of Fire, all from the USA, and Canada’s GOAT. In the women’s division, the game of the day was undoubtedly the matchup between the USA’s Denver Molly Brown and Colombia’s Revolution. The Colombians performed exceptionally as they took a 15-10 victory, becoming the first international team to defeat a U.S. team on their soil at this tournament.